What Hurts The Most
by smartkid37
Summary: When one heart reaches out for what it finally realizes it wants, unexpected hurts arise as the truth comes out. *Title and song respectfully borrowed from Rascal Flatts* - WARNING: NOT for McAbby Fans.


**Story Notes: **_Set in Season 7 - before "Borderland" (May 2010) - __A missing scene between Tim and Abby._

_A/N: Just a short one shot that came to me when I heard the song again - for the first time in ages._

_Might want to grab a tissue._

* * *

_I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house  
That don't bother me  
I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out_

_I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while even though_  
_Goin' on with you gone still upsets me_  
_There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay_  
_But that's not what gets me_

"Hey, Tim. Can we talk? I know it's been a really slow day and you're tired and everything but I wanted to ask you something important before you go." From inside her inner office, Abby Scuito pleads her case when the call she's just made to the Field Agent has produced his presence in her lab at the end of the day- albeit some thirty minutes after she'd asked for him.

"Sure Abby." Tim answers quietly. He's surprised she's not complaining that he hadn't jumped when she'd called him thirty minutes ago. But, he'd decided weeks ago that the time to jump to her bidding was long gone and he set out to prove that to himself and to those he worked with; but especially to Abby, with instances like this, every time this happened. As quiet as she's being right now, though, he's beginning to become concerned. "Everything okay?"

"Hmm. Yeah. Well, actually,... no.." Abby walks over to her inner lab door and unexpectedly and uncharacteristically locks it from the controls beside it. Turning to look at him, she allows the door to hold her up while she crosses her arms and asks the question that's been burning a hole through her brain for a week now. "Timmy do you still love me?"

He's taken aback, he's disappointed it's taken years for her to seriously ask him again and he's upset that; because she's waited so long, this conversation will not end well, for either of them. Silently he walks over to her and gently moves her aside and turns to unlock the lab door. With a sorrow filled sigh, he looks back at her, walks up to her and gently kisses her on the cheek. Stepping back, he answers her heartfelt question;the pain and regret in his voice, impossible to miss, making this all that much more heart-wrenching.

"Abby_, _I don't know why you're asking me this, but you didn't want me, remember? I'm sorry, I tried to wait for you - it's been years. I couldn't wait any longer. I moved on. You know that."

She watches him walk away while she finally lets the tears go. As they fill her eyes and spill down her face in silent rivlets; blinding her, the pain-filled words flow through her mind.

_What hurts the most  
Is being so close  
And havin' so much to say  
And watchin' you walk away_

It hurts to admit she waited too long - took too much about him for granted for far too long. Kind and compassionate, his firm explanation, had still hurt and even now she can see the question in his eyes that he hadn't had the heart to ask her. _Why did you wait so long to figure out what you wanted?_

_And never knowin'  
What could've been  
And not seein' that lovin' you  
Is what I was tryin' to do  
_

Faced with the painful reality of having waited too long for the right guy who'd been waiting for her all along, Abby locks her door again, sits back down at her desk, bows her head and cries - the haunting words of the song, playing clearly in her mind.

_...But I know if I could do it over  
I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart  
That I left unspoken  
_  
_What hurts the most  
Is being so close  
And havin' so much to say  
(Much to say)  
And watchin' you walk away_

_And never knowin'_  
_What could've been_  
_And not seein' that lovin' you_  
_Is what I was tryin' to do, oh_

***FINIS***

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